Stay for wire fences



(Model.)

L. W. CONNBLL.

STAY POR WIRE PBNGBS.

No. 386,770.- Patented July 24, 1888.

)Eis lifelong/s'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVIS W. CONNELL, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

STAY FOR WIRE FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,770, dated July 24,1888.

Application filed May 21, 1886.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that l', Lnwis W. CONNELL, a citizen ofthe United States,residing in Joliet, in the county of Vill and State ot' Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Stays for Vire Fences, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to wire stays for holding, stiffening, andsupporting the wires of wire fences between the fence-posts and keepingsaid wires the proper distance apart. Vhere suitable stays for the wiresare provided at intervals-say of every eight or ten feet between theposts-the posts themselves may be planted two or three rods apart, moreor less, thus effecting a considerable saving in the cost of the fence.

The object of my invention is to provide a wire stay of a strong,simple, and cheap construction, which may be easily and quickly appliedto all the fencewires simultaneously, and which, when applied, willserve to hold each ofthe fence-wires rigidly in place, so that theycannot be sprung apart or together.

To this end my invention consists of a wire stay, preferably steel wireand about No. 9 or lOlin size, provided with a series of oblique hookeyes or loops-that is to say, the member of the i'old in the wireconstituting the hookeye is inclined in two directions or planes, sothat when the wire stay is held or turned in one position thefence-wires maybe all inserted laterallyinto the hook eyes orloops, asinto an ordinary hook, and then locked therein by simply turning thestay on its axis-say a quarter of a revolution-the hook-eyes forniing,when turned in this second position,closed loops or eyes, out of whichthe fencewires cannot move up or down or laterally. Vhen applied, thcstay is held in this second position by wrapping or coiling one or bothof its free ends around the top or bottom wires, onel or both, of thefence. The loops or folds in the wire stay, by reason of their beingbent obliquely or in two directions, forni compound eyes and hooks, orcompound closed loops and open loops-thatis to say, looked at in onedirection these folds appear to be hooks, and when looked at from adirection at right angles to the former they appear to be eyes or closedloops. All that is required to apply Serial No. 203.173. (Model.)

my stay to the fence-wires is simply to hook it over said wires and thenturn it slightly on its axis and secure it in that position by wrappingone of its free ends around one of the fence-wires. These compound openand closed loops for securing the fence-wires are, for convenience ol"manufacture by machinery, preferably placed at equal distances apart onthe stay, the distance between them being about equal to the spaceordinarily desired between the lower wires of the fence. In this way theupper wires of the fence, which are farther apart, may be scoured inevery second or every third loop ol` the stay. However, the loops may bedifferently spaced, if desired. It is also preferable that thesecompound open and closed loops should be made double, or of' au obliqueS form, as the wire may be very conveniently bent in such form, and asthen the stay may be applied either end up, or to either side of thefence, or hooked upon the fencewires upward or downward with equalfacility.

In the accompanying drawings, which forni a part of this spceilication,Figure l is a View showing my improved wire stay as applied to a wirefence. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail side view of the stay. Fig. 3 is anend view. Fig. 4 is an end view showing the stay turned into position tohook upon the fence-wires. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the stayturned into position to lock the tence-wires inthe compound eye and hookloops. Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective View ot' the stay, and Fig. 7is a side View showing an additional lockingwire inserted through theloops.

In said drawings, A represents the fence posts, B the fencewires, and Cthe staples by which they are secured to the posts.

D is a wire stay provided at intervals with compound open and closedloops d, the bend or fold d of the wire forming this compound open andclosed loop being bent or inclined in two directions, such bends orinclinations being preferably in planes about at right angles to eachother, as indicated in Fig. o' or in Figs. 4; and 5.

The stay D is hooked upon the fence-wires in the manner illustrated inFig. 4, the loops d being then turned in position to form hooks to hookover the wires, and then the stay is simply turned about a quarterturnonits own IOO axis, when it assumes-the position shown in Fig. 5, theloops d in this position being closed upon the fence-wires by reason ofthe oblique inclination of the folds d. The stayis then secured in thisposition by wrapping its upper or lower end, d, around the upper orlower fence-wire, one or both. As indicated in Fig. 2, the coil d2,together with the loop d, form two somewhat separated bearings upon thefence-wire, so that when thus secured the stay cannot turn on its axis,and the fence-wires' cannot, therefore, escape from the loops d, as saidloops are closed while the stay is turned or held in this position.Theinclined part or fold d is preferably bent about as indicated in thedrawings, thus forming double or two similar compound eyes and hooks oropen and closed loops cl at each bend or fold d in the fence-wire D. Thestay is, or of course should be, made of sufficient length to reach fromthe bottom to the top wire of the fence. In Fig. 7 an additionallockingwire, E, is inserted through the loops d. It serves to secure orlock the felice-wires in the loops more effectually, and also to stiffenthe stays. When this locking-wire E is employed, the stay-wire D mayofcourse be of smaller size.

To secure the stay in position after it is placed upon the fence-wires,the bending of the end needs not to be carried to the extent shown inthe drawings. Any bending which will inclose the fence-strandsufficiently to prevent the turning of the stay on its axis will besufficient.

I am aware that heretofore wires have been provided with double closedloops inclined at an angle to the direction of the wire to bring the twoeyes formed by such closed loops in a line with and opposite each other,so that said eyes or a series of them may be threaded over the end of asecond wire at right angles to the looped wire, as shown and describedin Let ters Patent No. 812,701, to W. R. Boerner, dated February 24,1885, and I hereby disclaim suoli device as forming no part o f myinvention. My invention consists in a staywire provided with compoundhook-eyes,7 or compound open and closed loops,7 and by these terms orphrases in this specification, as well as in the claims, I mean a loopin the stay-wire which is open and forms a hook which may be laterallyhooked. over a fence-wire when the stay-wire is turned on its axis inone position, and which loop is at the same time a closed loop or eyewhen the staywire isrotated on its axis into another position. yMycombined open and closed loop thus serves to permit the lateralapplication of the stay to the fencewires, and at the same time, by asimple rotation of the stay on its axis, the hookloops become closedloops, from which the fence-wires cannot become disengaged. that, whilemy stay-wire is provided with double loops, each of the duplicate partsof which is a compound open and closed loonp,

.my invention is present and operative if one of the duplicate paris ofthe loop should be omitted; nor do I claim wrapping the end of astay-wire around a fence-wire, but only such coil in combination with mycompound open and closed loops, and the rotatable staywire with whichsaid coil coacts and serves to lock said loops on the fencelwires.

I claim- 1. Awire stay for wire fences provided with a number ofcompound closed and open loops, each of said loops consisting in anoblique bend or fold in the stay-wire, inclined in two directions orplanes at an angle to each other, said inclined fold forming an openloop or hook adapted to hook over the fence-wire laterally when the stayis turned in one position, and a closed loop or eye when the stay isturned on its axis into a position at about right angles to said formerposition, substantially as specified.

2. The wire stayfor wire fences, consisting in a single stay-wire, D,provided with compound eyes and hooks d, consisting of bends or folds din the stay-wire, inclined in two directions, substantially as shown anddescribed, in combination with the wires of a wire fence, said stay-wirehaving a coil, d2, at its end around one ofsaid fence-wires,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with wire stay D, having compound open and closedloops d, formed by bends or folds cilin said stay-wire, inclined in twodirections, substantially as shown and described, of a locking wire, E,inserted through said loops k1, substantially as specied.

4. The stay-wire D, having double compound open and closed loops d d,formed by or consisting of the oblique bends or folds d in saidstay-wire, inclined in two directions, substantially as shown anddescribed.

5. The stay-wire D, having oblique bends or folds d therein, inclined intwo directions, substantially as shown and described, forming an openloop or hook on said stay-wire, and at the saine time a closed loop oreye, according to the position the stay-wire is turned on its axis,substantially as specified.

LEWIS W. CONNELL.

Witnesses:

J AMES KIRTH, FRANcIs H. CoNNELL.

It should also be observedv IOO IIO

